Written by Training Ground Guru — October 21, 2022
ASTON VILLA have sacked the five staff who were brought to the club by Steven Gerrard: assistants Gary McAllister, Neil Critchley and Tom Culshaw; Head of Fitness and Conditioning Jordan Milsom; and Lead Analyst Scott Mason.
Gerrard was fired following the 3-0 Premier League defeat at Fulham last night, which left the club 17th in the table.
CEO Christian Purslow said: “The Board has come to this decision following a full evaluation of results and performances over the calendar year. We were clear when we appointed Steven that we set an objective of continuous improvement but that has not been achieved despite everybody’s best efforts and we believe the time is right to make these changes now.
“The process of appointing a new Head Coach is underway and we will update supporters as soon as possible.”
McAllister, Culshaw, Milsom and Mason all arrived at Villa with Gerrard in November 2021, having previously worked with him at Rangers. Critchley arrived from Blackpool in June, having led the Championship side to promotion to the Championship as manager.
He replaced Michael Beale, who had been appointed manager of QPR. Gerrard retained three staff, who will remain at the club following his departure - first-team coach Aaron Danks, goalkeeper coach Neil Cutler and set pieces coach Austin MacPhee.
Danks will take charge of the side for the Premier League match against Brentford on Sunday.